Iran exports $800mln of electricity, wants rate revision

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Price of Iran’s electricity exported to neighboring countries is about 10 US cents per KW hour, which needs to be revised, said a top electricity official, who added the country exported $800 million worth of electricity last year.

“The current rate — about 10 US cents per kilowatt hour — for electricity exports needs to be revised,” said Managing Director of Iran Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Management Company (TAVANIR) Homayoun Hayeri at a press conference here in Tehran on Wednesday.

The country’s electricity industry, which earned $800 million in energy exports last year, has already become the “region’s energy hub,” as Iran exchanges electricity with those neighbors it shares a land border with, Hayeri added.

The TAVANIR chief said that Iran is also after exchanging electricity with the countries on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf through submarine cables and that it enjoys the required international standards for connecting the country’s national electricity network to the European network.

Late last week a senior energy official said Iran was planning to connect its national grid to those of Russia and Europe, adding that preparations to connect Iran’s electricity network to Russia’s were underway.

“The connection (of power grid) to Russia and Europe, which has been in (Iran’s) electricity industry’s program for a few years, has witnessed progress… completion of these (power transmission) lines are underway,” Mohammad Behzad, Iran’s deputy minister of energy for electricity and energy affairs, told Tasnim on Friday.

“The connection of Iran’s national grid to Russia will be made via Azerbaijan (Republic),” he added.

Behzad then announced that some European countries had voiced willingness for purchasing Iranian electricity, and said, “After technical studies, a plan for the connection of Iran’s electricity grid to Europe will become operational.”

He further noted that Iran now exports electricity to all neighboring countries, including Turkey, Iraq, The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, the Rebublic of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, all of whom receive Iranian power via land lines.

Behzad had earlier said that Tehran plans to export electricity to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) via submarine power cables.

He also added that Persian Gulf littoral states have been always interested in importing electricity from Iran, adding that Tehran has the capacity to export electricity via submarine supply cables to other neighboring countries on the Persian Gulf.